Before being arrested by the Nazis in the fall of 1943, Nelly Lenz (portrayed soulfully by Nina Hoss) was a nightclub singer accompanied on the piano by her husband, Johnny (Ronald Zehrfeld).

Before the liberation from the camps after Germany's surrender, Nelly is disfigured by a gunshot wound to the face.

When the film opens she is being transported from Switzerland to a plastic surgeon in Germany by close family friend Lene Winter (Nina Kunendorf). There is a tense moment at the border where one of the guards insists on seeing Nelly's face, which she is desperately trying to cover up. Lene tells the guard her passenger was “in the camps.” He insists harshly to see her face. Shaking and trying to keep the beam from his flashlight out of her eyes, she is inspected briefly and they are allowed to pass.

The surgeon asks Nelly to choose from an assortment of “looks” for her new face, and to take a little time in deciding.

“I just want to look the way I used to,” she murmurs.

He tells her that is not possible and tries to be encouraging by saying her new look will help with her starting a new life.

After the surgery Nelly discovers photos of herself with family members and her husband, Johnny, in the surgeon's office at the clinic. Lene explains to Nelly the surgeon needed to use the photos to have some idea of what Nelly looked like before.

Lene uses the opportunity of the discovery of the photos to break harsh news to Nelly: All of her family members are dead. Nelly asks about Johnny, but Lene tells her she doesn't care about Johnny.

Nelly has no idea what she looks like post surgery until she tells Lene to take her to her former home, now a shell of its former self. While wandering about the debris, Nelly catches a glimpse of herself in two shards of what was once a mirror. It is traumatic. Who is that woman?

Shaken, she returns abruptly to the car. She quietly tells Lene: “I no longer exist.”

Through Lene she learns that the fees for her surgery, clinic stay, and post surgery accommodations are being paid for through her inheritance. Quite a substantial one, it’s implied, though no sum is actually given. At this time, Lene drops another bomb shell on Nelly: Johnny has been trying to get her inheritance, but has been unsuccessful because there isn't proof of her death.

Determined to find her husband, she finds her way to the Phoenix, a nightclub on the American side of post-war Berlin one evening. She meanders around searching. When Nelly hears a woman screaming her husband's name while being physically removed from the club, Nelly follows them. The woman is taken to an alley not far from the Phoenix, and Nelly quietly waits until the sex is over.

What follows is a most powerful scene: Nelly sees the man called Johnny as he comes out of the alley, and he sees her. She tries to walk away saying she thought he was someone else, but he orders her to stop. Orders her to give him her purse. Involuntary quaking wracks Nelly's body. She is obviously terrified. What happens next is not shown explicitly, but it is implied that he ordered her to do something else for him as well.

Undeterred from the events of the previous evening, and Lene's loud reprimand about wandering around alone — at night — without a gun, Nelly returns to the Phoenix.

And she does see Johnny there.

Here it is. The moment of truth. Will he recognize her at all?

Nelly calls to him. He looks up, looks at her, and looks away.

The hurt is too much. Nelly rushes out, tears in her eyes, and, no doubt, a deep, unrelenting ache in her heart. Not only must she cope with memories of the concentration camp, she must also cope with the loss of her identity, her sense of belonging, and the knowledge that she is now unrecognizable to anyone who knew her.

Nelly returns to the apartment and shares what happened with Lene. It's at this time that her friend lays another mind blowing bit of information on her -  that it was her own husband who betrayed her to the Nazis. Yes, he was subsequently arrested too, but he was released and never brought up on charges (for aiding a Jew).

Nelly cannot bring herself to believe Lene. Nelly returns to the Phoenix — she can't keep herself from going.

Johnny invites her to follow him back to his apartment. Then and there Johnny shares his scheme to nab the inheritance money. Johnny (or Johannes as he now calls himself), tells her she does resemble his dead wife a little and that if she helps him, he will give her $20,000. All she has to do is pretend to be his wife, who he will tell the family is a camp survivor.

Imagine. All she has to do is pretend to be someone else pretending to be herself. Nelly tries to hide the hurt she feels after hearing what was previously just an accusation is actually a confirmed reality.

Will Nelly be able to fully rise from the ashes?

This movie lives up to the hype.

Filmed in English with some subtitles, the acting is flawless and the music (Stefan Will) is quiet jazz — often stand up bass alone, and with clarinet — is a fine undercurrent complementing the plot.

As we, the people of the world, mark the 70th anniversary of World War II's end, this film provides an excellent glimpse into what survivors’ lives post-war may have been like.

The lives of 11 million human beings of all ages, genders, ethnicities, political and religious beliefs, economic status, sexual orientation, health and infirmity, six million of which were of Jewish descent were cruelly and barbarically ended.

And we must never forget.

“Phoenix” is playing at 7 p.m. at The Harbor Theatre on Friday, Sept. 11 and 12, 16 and 17; and at 2 and 7 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 13.

The theater is located at 185 Townsend Avenue in Boothbay Harbor. The number is 207-633-0438.